Hell On High Quad Bock (Er!) Belgian-Style Ale

Marginally defeated on BeerAdvocate.com, I've found at least one use for Hell On High Quad Bock Belgian-Style Ale.

Nose: Strong medicinal, strong alcohol-based vanilla extract.

Taste: Alcohol, possible Belgian earthiness (give 'em that , eh?),  low to absent hops, more drinkable than Skullsplitter.

Alcohol (by volume): 14%.

I read on Beer Advocate, that the alcohol was overwhelming, and the remains of one reviewer's sample was two thirds down the drain. But if you have tried whiskey or scotch neat, then Hell On High is a cakewalk - with bubbles to boot.

So that one use I recommend for this beer? I feel that it pairs nicely with a cold.

Pairing: Early-onset common cold.

Rating: 2/5.

Crony Capitalism

Everytime your elected officials say they are working to attract industry and create jobs, they are advancing the cause of crony capitalism. They are acting like fascists. 

Tax breaks and credits, abuse of imminent domain, and "donations" of infrastructure  all cement the marriage of business and state - an accepted definition of fascism, a bastardization of capitalism, and not the responsibility of a true free market.

Tyranny Is A Cancer

Tyranny is a cancer that the              wants you to ignore ... so that it can spread.

A. Republican Party
B. Democratic Party
C. Federal administration
D. Congress
E. Judiciary
F. State legislature
G. State administration
H. Local council
I. Local administration
J. ALL OF THE ABOVE (GOVERNMENT)

Freedom Fundamentalist: Another Descriptor For Libertarian

In generally, I describe myself as a small-"L" libertarian. But as a rule of thumb, it depends on who I am talking to:

When speaking with a ...
... Democrat, I'm a "libertarian."
... Republican, I'm a "libertarian" or "Liberty Caucus" supporter.
... Libertarian, I'm a "small-'L' libertarian."
... small-"L" libertarian, I'm an "anarchist."
... "anarchist," I'm an "anarchist," "agorist," "anarcho-capitalist," "voluntaryist," or whatever is the best label at the moment.

But when I was doing some crowdsource work, and when a question came up to clarify my political bent, I typed "freedom fundamentalist."

As a non-bomb-throwing descriptor - that is not an easily-confused, mouth-full garble like "voluntaryist" or "voluntaryianist"- I'd call myself a "freedom fundamentalist," for now.

Left/Right Politics are Smoke and Mirrors

The left/right paradigm is an illusion. The true political struggle is between authoritarianism and libertarianism, tryanny and liberty, the state and freedom.

President (sic) Barrack Obama warned against the warnings in the U.S. about tyranny. It sickens me to say that he was partially right. Higher taxes and burdensome regulation do not seem too tyrannical, until ... Someone ...kicks ... In ... Your door, shoots your dog, smashes your daughters' face into the wall, bed frame, amd floor, and hauls you off to jail for a felony victimless false crime. Tyranny is a cancer - Obama wants you to ignore it - so that it can spread.

The Free Market Stops Statism

The more big government and megacorporations push their statist ("liberal") agenda, the more the free market will step in and provide what people want and need to live free lives.

Case in point, credit-card processing companies and banks are dropping gun retailers and manufacturers like cheap dates.  Now there is McMillan Market Solutions, an alternative to (short term) loan and credit processing services "that will never turn [gun companies] down for political reasons."

This is a great thing from an anarcho capitalist position, because we believe that giant corporations couldn't exist in a truely free market without government largesse (with strings)  and protection.

This is an epic battle between the megacorps and the freemarketers. The more the likes of Walmart and Kmart depend on the government to subsidized their anticompetitive pricing by using socialized services to pay their employees' healthcare coverage needs (Medicaid), the stronger AND weaker they will be. The more the megabanks carry-out statutory (but naturally illegal) government policies while getting bailed out by big government, the stronger AND weaker they will be. What a paradox.

But again, the free market can fill the gaps that big government and megacorps create - or ignore.

The Military Service Divide

I've heard the military-service divide bemoaned in print and among my extended family. The general line goes something like this: Since conscription has ended and we have shifted to a volunteer force, the American people have become disconnected from the sacrifice, culture, discipline, and manners of our service members.

I agree with such concern, but not exactly for the same loss. Conscription is slavery, so there is no loss in its absence. Military service is not as noble as it sounds, because it is indentured servitude. So service in our national military - or even the national guards - is a boondoggle, a false ideal, an avenue for misguided pride, and a vehicle for promoting an logical fallacy.

I bemoan the loss of true civil service - the loss of truly voluntary militia service.

What have we gotten in exchange for giving up the militias? An adventurous military. An oppressive police state. A web of bureaucratic internal spying. A less trustful society.

Will revitalizing the militias solve all our ills? Of course not, but it would move us toward stronger communities, be a foil to an out of control bureaucracy, and discourage the illegal and illegitimate activities of non-peace-officer LEOs.

Socialism The Carrot, Crony Capitalism The Stick

 

 Credit: Cop Spike Project on Facebook

In 1848, in Italy, the Austrian overlords joined forces with bourgeoise militias to suppress a popular uprising. Things turned out pretty much the same across Europe. 

One of the results: the birth of the welfare state. Socialism is the panacea for the masses in a crony-capitalist state. 

Companies like Walmart have no motive to pay workers higher wages, if they can turn to government to supplement workers' income through socialized services. So it is quite easy for megacorps to maintain low prices, low wages, and to call out the official militia.